


Stay (One-Shot)

by Randm_mind (MyMuse)



Category: youtube - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:25:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7903069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyMuse/pseuds/Randm_mind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matthew Patrick (MatPat) and his wife, Stephanie Patrick, are busy working on work for the Game Theorist Channel. When Matthew checks for feedback on his latest theory, some of the comments get him down and he goes to Stephanie for comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay (One-Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to #MatPatDeservesLove. Under the large entity of Theorist Media, which encompasses Film Theory and Game Theory, he still is a person.

_**You need to STOP already.** _

_**GO AWAY!** _

_**Get the HELL off of YOUTUBE!** _

_**Go Kill Yourself!** _

_**What a sell-out!** _

_**You're nothing but a cancer!** _

_**Go die in a fire!** _

_**SHUT UP ALREADY!** _

These were all comments on Matthew Patrick's latest Game Theory video. Sure, there were always the occasional positive ones, like "nice job!" or "you rock!" and constructive ones that would politely outline their disagreements with his theories, but the single line character bashing insults and death wishes were becoming more and more frequent with every subsequent upload of a Game Theory video. Needless to say, as a YouTuber that makes their living off of building and satisfying an audience and getting feedback from them in order to continue their career, these kinds of comments weren't helpful. But more than that, Matthew knew that these comments had a way of wiggling their way into your mind and crippling you, emotionally and psychologically.

This is where he found himself now.

Matthew shut the computer he was working on and let out a long sigh. He had been looking through the comments for hours now, trying to figure out how the audience was receiving the latest Game Theory video, but the comments he was seeing wasn't anywhere close to what he expected. He wanted the video to invoke discussion and debate, not vitriolic hate like he was getting now.

The numbers and statistics on the video didn't help Matthew figure out how the video was doing either. It was only a couple of hours in and the video already had a crazy amount of likes and views: over 500,000 views and 25,000 likes. But those figures didn't help him. He couldn't tell what exactly people liked about that video. He knew that there were die-hard Game Theory fans that watched his videos. Fans that would like and defend almost anything he put out and take it as fact, rather than the theories they really are. But they were far and few between.

The likes and the view counts weren't matching up with the comments that he was seeing, so he wasn't sure what the community thought of the video. And that frustrated him.

He looked across at his wife, Stephanie, who had a pair of headphones on. She was currently working on the payroll for the rest of the team in Theorist Media. Running Game Theory and Film Theory required a lot of people. Video editors and script writers, these people helped to create content for the channel. All of these people had to get paid, and it was Stephanie's job to make sure they did.

When Stephanie caught Matthew looking at her with his brown eyes, she knew something was wrong. Her bright-eyed husband now had a look of tiredness and defeat in his eyes. Realizing that something was wrong, she took off her headphones, closed the computer she was working on and immediately went to his side. She put her left hand on his shoulder and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Seeing his wife next to him, Matthew leaned into Stephanie, his head on her neck as she gently rubbed his arm with her left hand. "I-I don't know, Steph. I was checking on the comments for the latest Game Theory to see how people liked it, but," he took a breath, "the more I read, the more discouraged I got. There's nothing I saw that even resembled or that I recognized as a debate. Just those comments again."

Stephanie stopped rubbing her husband's arm and used her left hand to gently brush her husband's dark brown hair. "Hate comments again?"

Matthew nodded. "I know that what I'm feeling is not rational. I know that this feeling will go away eventually. I know that there are plenty of other Theorists out there that like what I do and the theories I put out, but it still-"

"still gets to you, doesn't it?" finished Stephanie in a soft voice.

"More than I'd like it to, honestly." He sighed. "It seems like it's getting worse too. I've already had to make a video showing that I haven't been deleting comments for that [TF 2 and Overwatch Deadlock](https://twitter.com/MatPatGT/status/768509790519566336) I posted a while back because people kept accusing me of censoring comments on that video when I clearly did not. Even with that video though, there are still people accusing me of deleting comments, though I've tried everything in my power to show that I haven't," he said, his voice breaking near the end of his statement.

Now it was Stephanie's turn to sigh. She absolutely hated seeing her husband like this. She moved her husband's head so that it was on her chest instead of on her neck and used her left hand to clasp his left hand in hers. "Matthew," she said softly, "you've done all you can do. It's not your fault. You can't control how people react to your content. You know that."

"I know," replied Matthew, his hand clasping Stephanie's too. "But with comments like that, I can't tell what the community thinks and I can't get feedback from them to improve on future theories. You and I know that we wouldn't be where we are today without them, The Game Theorist Community."

"I know, honey, I know," said Stephanie, trying to reassure her husband. "I remember those early days when your face would light up when a video passed a hundred views. I remember when you'd stay up late and reply to every single comment on your videos and every twitter mention. Matthew, trust me. Give the video some time and check back later, okay? I promise you, the community will make itself known and you'll see their reaction soon enough, okay?"

Matthew closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath, his head still leaning against Stephanie's. Stephanie was right. It was only a couple of hours since the video went up after all. There was no way that what he saw was representative of the community's reaction. "Alright. I'll check back later. But for now, Steph, can we stay like this for now, please?"

Matthew held Stephanie's hand a little tighter. He knew that he just needed her presence with him right now to combat how horrible he was feeling. She didn't need to talk or do anything. He knew her presence would be enough for him as he worked his way through the emotional low he was feeling right now due to the comment section.

Stephanie looked down at her husband with a small smile. She used her free hand to brush his hair out of his face so she could look straight into his brown eyes. "Of course."

They sat there in silence for a while. Neither one saying anything or making a sound.

It was just them, alone, working through the difficulties of being YouTubers, together.


End file.
